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Re: Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks
By:Bill Hamm
Date: 10/9/2010, 12:35 am
In Response To: Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks (Garvin)

: I just landed a job working for a lumber/timber company in Everett,
: WA. They produce 8 ft to 22 ft Douglas Fir planks that vary in
: width from 4 to 12 in and thicknesses of 1 to 6 inches. i also
: found out today they give employees a ridiculously good discount
: on wood as well... so my question is can Fir be used for strip
: kayaks and also do they make decent frames for skinned yaks as
: well?

: thanks all!

It'll work fine. Just make the strips a little thinner to compensate for it's weight vs. it's strength. Maybe 3/16" thick strips or even a little thinner. I used mahogany for the sides of my Disko Bay and made all the strips to match at 5/32", have to be careful sanding the hull when you go that thin, but it works fine. As mentioned most of the weight and also most of the strength is in the glass/epoxy.

Bill H.

Messages In This Thread

Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks
Garvin -- 10/7/2010, 8:28 pm
Re: Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks
Garvin -- 10/11/2010, 7:51 pm
Re: Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks
Mark Seilis -- 10/11/2010, 12:40 pm
Re: Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks
Foster -- 10/11/2010, 11:39 am
Re: Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks
Bill Hamm -- 10/9/2010, 12:35 am
Re: Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks
Brian Nystrom -- 10/10/2010, 12:13 pm
Re: Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks
Bill Hamm -- 10/11/2010, 2:21 am
Re: Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks
Garvin -- 10/10/2010, 4:32 pm
Re: Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks
Bill Hamm -- 10/11/2010, 2:24 am
Re: Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks
Mike Bielski -- 10/11/2010, 1:30 am
Re: Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks
Garvin -- 10/11/2010, 7:47 pm
Re: Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks
G New -- 10/10/2010, 7:36 pm
Re: Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks
Garvin -- 10/10/2010, 10:36 pm
Re: Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks
dbynoe -- 10/8/2010, 1:48 pm
Re: Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks
Garvin -- 10/8/2010, 11:40 am
Re: Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks
Brian Nystrom -- 10/10/2010, 12:05 pm
Re: Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks
Bill Hamm -- 10/11/2010, 5:48 pm
Re: Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks
Johne -- 10/8/2010, 12:11 pm
Re: Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks
Jay Babina -- 10/8/2010, 11:12 am
Re: Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks
Mike Bielski -- 10/8/2010, 8:02 am
Re: Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks
Robert W -- 10/8/2010, 7:38 am
Re: Material: Douglas Fir for kayaks
Brian Nystrom -- 10/8/2010, 7:16 am